Cape students return from France trip

Cape Henlopen High School students have returned from a trip to France, part of an exchange program established in 2005.  Students called their days immersed in French language and culture amazing.

The program, begun by former Cape French teachers, has students from Cape Henlopen High School visit Vitré, a town in the northwest of France, in the spring and students from Vitré visit the Cape Region in the autumn of odd-numbered years.

French tenth-grade students and their families hosted the Cape students.

Student Tavish Papp said upon arrival in Vitré, students immediately met their host families.  They spent time with their French peers after the school day was over.

Students were matched based on interest surveys.

“The saddest part is that we had just four or five days to make that connection, then we had to leave,” Papp said.

Cape French teacher Holly Criswell said the key to the program is the relationship students form with each other.  "They feel like they know each other first," she said.  Students keep in touch with their French peers by Facebook and email, she said.

Cape students spent most of their days in Vitré sightseeing, but they also sat in on English, math and philosophy classes with their French friends one day, said Bridget Killion.

Although students and their host families did different things, many of the students and families attended a spring fun fair, and one evening all the students had dinner together, said Dan Maguire.

While there were some cultural differences, Killion said teenagers are pretty much the same everywhere.  One common interest was American music, said Jack McMahon.

A major cultural difference was that French eat a large lunch and small dinner, said Killion.  “They also don’t use any ice, so there are no cold drinks,” she said.  The French also kiss each other on both cheeks every time they meet, she said.

Several of Cape's students took part in the exchange for the second time.

Alex Lewis said on her first trip to Vitré, her focus was learning about the culture and language. “The second time, it was more about being a part of it,” Lewis said.

It was also Zoe Atsidis’s second trip.  “The second time was like seeing a movie, knowing how good it was, but noticing more detail,” she said.

Kylie Mischler said the students used the opportunity to speak French as much as possible, despite the fact that their peers have studied English for many years.

Maguire said, “We spoke French for almost the entire time.  It was really cool immersion.  We got a lot better at conversational phrases.”  He said he and other Cape students learned more of contemporary conversational French than they had learned from their textbook.

The group ended its trip in Paris, where Killion said the shopping was the best.  Students also visited many of the city’s tourist hot spots, including the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, Napoleon’s tomb, the Eifel Tower and Notre Dame.